Anybody Else Collect Sewing Machines?

[Warbaby]

I recently scored a really nice Singer 99 portable. I already had one but this one was in mint condition - and made in Canada so I had to have it. The $5 price tag was also a deciding factor. It came with a big box of attachments, most of which I can identify, but there are a few that I can't figure out. Here they are - I'd appreciate it if anyone can identify them:

Two shots of the same gizmo:

 

[Shangas]

I THINK that black one with "SINGER" on it is a zigzagger (buttonholers are bigger); that would date to the 1950s, I believe. -- the others..I have no idea.

 

[2jakes]

I recently scored a really nice Singer 99 portable. I already had one but this one was in mint condition - and made in Canada so I had to have it. The $5 price tag was also a deciding factor. It came with a big box of attachments, most of which I can identify, but there are a few that I can't figure out. Here they are - I'd appreciate it if anyone can identify them:


Adjustable Hemmer attachment by Singer

This is the " Adjustable Hemmer " attachment.

This hemmer will turn hems from 3/16 " to 15/16" wide.
But you must remove the presser foot & attach this adjustable
hemmer in it's place.

 

[2jakes]

Singer Attachments

This attachment by Singer is called Tuckmarker

The Tuckmarker is for fine fabrics when wanting to produce tucks from very fine to
1" wide.

When I bought my 1920s Singer, I also bought these manuals to find out more
about how to operate the machine properly. The illustrations have been very helpful.

 

[Shangas]

As some of you may know, I own two Singer sewing machines which I use every now and then. My grandmother's 1950s 99k, and a 1936 Singer 128...

Anyone familiar with these older, vibrating-shuttle machines will probably know, one of the hardest, and most frustrating elements of operating these antiques is that the little barbell bobbins are no-longer manufactured in a big way.

When I purchased the above-machine, it came with a missing slide-plate, and only two bobbins and the shuttle.

My first triumph was finding a replacement slide-plate, in a box of bits and pieces.

Today, I'm proud to say, I had a second triumph!

I found two more Singer barbell bobbins! For free! So now, I have four!

I believe the standard set was five or six bobbins, but four isn't so bad!

I was in my local thrift-shop today, and the manager told me that an antique sewing-machine had come into the shop. I went to the back room to look it over. It was a no-name vibrating-shuttle machine, which had seen many, many better days.

The machine was mechanically sound, but it had many missing or worn out parts. The handle on the lid was gone, as were the latches and locks on the sides. The detailing on the machine-bed was almost all rubbed off, and it needed a jolly good clean and a lubrication.

I examined the machine in detail, and noticed that it even came with a little compartment in the machine-base, which was filled with feet and bits and pieces.

Among these were the two bobbins.

After comparing them with the machine, the bobbin-winder, and the one bobbin still inside the shuttle, I determined that these bobbins were not original to the machine. My suspicions were finalised when I put one of these bobbins onto the winder - it just flipped right off the moment I tried turning the handle.

The manager was eager to sell the item and to give as truthful a description as possible. I told him these two bobbins didn't belong with the machine, and that they looked like Singer bobbins (which the machine was not).

That being the case, he said that I would probably get more use out of the bobbins, than whoever bought the machine. And there was no point selling the machine with components which didn't go with it.

So he let me have the bobbins for free! And now my pre-war Singer has two extra bobbins! Yay!!

That said, I took photographs of this mystery machine. I'll upload them here once I get them out of my camera.

 

[Shangas]

Here's the mystery machine:





I now believe this to be a Victorian-era "Domestic", manufactured in the United States. I base that wholly on the shape and style of the shuttle, which is the only thing I have to go on, unfortunately. There's no other markings on this machine apart from the serial-number.



It's a crank-powered one, as you can see.

My Singer 128:





The two lower bobbins (white and green), came with the machine when I bought it. The two upper bobbins (black, and empty), were taken from that mystery-machine. I have tested them in the shuttle, and they ARE Singer bobbins. So I'm very happy about that!

 

[Picard1138]

Great thread, gents.

I too collect antique Singer machines, this Singer 66 portable with hand crank is the one I use the most. It is from around 1920, and was originally a motored model, but the motor wiring was shot so I took it off and added the hand crank. I also have a Model 15 in a portable case, and a Model 27 on a treadle base which lives aboard the USS OLYMPIA as a display, including full 1890s era "Puzzle Box."

Here it is tackling my US 1889 Campaign Hat conversion project with ease, using heavy duty upholstery thread no less (check out the Campaign Hat thread in the hats forum) :



-Max

 

[Picard1138]

Here is the full Singer "Puzzle Box":



-Max

 

[Shangas]

I was about to ask where the bobbins were! But now I see the storage for them on the bottom left side.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Singer Puzzle-Box actually won a design-award, didn't it? For innovation and creativity or originality or something.

I'd love to buy a puzzle-box for my Singer 128.

 

[2jakes]

My Singer hand -crank model next to a Stitchwell

 

[Shangas]

TwoJakes, you reminded me that I took this photograph. I don't think I've ever shared this with anyone...



My Singer 128, and my Singer 20



My mismatched slide-plates. The back one is an original Singer plate. The front one, I found out later, came from a German Frister & Rossmann sewing machine.





In the background, you can see my brown Florsheim wingtips.

 

[2jakes]

TwoJakes, you reminded me that I took this photograph. I don't think I've ever shared this with anyone...



My Singer 128, and my Singer 20

I believe you told me earlier the year of my Singer...not sure...but it works nice.


Wingtips....
We must think alike...I have some brown ones as well....:eusa_clap

 

[Shangas]

Haha!! Yes we must indeed. I love my brown wingtip Florsheims.

Not a sewing machine, but this is my new Singer 27-series puzzle-box. Here it is closed up:







Lid open:



Split down the middle:



All open:

A home for my bobbins, at last!:



Hopefully, one day I'll find the elusive fifth bobbin!

 

[great white]

I've only got the one and I only bought it last week. Singer 319W:

Dropped a hundred for it. I was attracted to it's 1950's "industrial" look. The serial number says it's a 1957.

I was on a business trip, so I had to break it down to fly it home in my luggage. Believe it or not, it's all in here:

Got it home fine, adjusted the timing and it stitches just fine.

Now to refinish the desk pieces and put it back together.....

 

[Shangas]

I've carried sewing machines home from as near as Singapore, to as far away as London. I know what a struggle it can be to get them home!

 

[Shangas]

A home for my bobbins, at last!:



Hopefully, one day I'll find the elusive fifth bobbin!

Wonders never cease!

After talking with a friend of mine, it happens by chance that she has spare long bobbins at home! She has agreed to give them to me! She doesn't have a machine that can use them, and she'd rather that I take them and complete my restoration instead. So she's giving them to me for free!

I hope they're the right size (I've seen pictures of them, but you can't judge from that. They LOOK to be the business). She has two which look like they're for Singer machines, and one which looks like it's for a Frister & Rossmann machine. But I'll take them all, anyway. Just in case. This means that I'll have six bobbins! Five in the box, and one in the shuttle!!

 

[Shangas]

This video might be of interest to anyone who collects REALLY OLD or OBSCURE sewing-machines, with hard-to-find needles.

How to Sharpen a Machine-Needle, by English sewing-machine collector Alex Askaroff:

[video=youtube;NPtfwSjft84]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPtfwSjft84[/video]

It never occurred to me that this might be possible! It sounds like quite a handy tip!

 

[art_deco_fan]

Neat video! I have sharpened many a dull needle in my day. Nice to see people making the most of the tools they have.